System and method for determining and controlling status and location of an object

ABSTRACT

Techniques are described with regard to determining and controlling a location and status of assets directly and/or indirectly. The techniques may be used to track and control the respective locations and status of any number of objects. Applications include but are not limited to tracking dry and refrigerated trailers and their status in a supply-chain yard; tracking pallets and boxes and their status in a warehouse; tracking items in a retail environment; tracking finished goods and work in progress in and around a manufacturing plant; tracking vehicles in a parking lot; tracking cargo and equipment at an airport; tracking equipment in a lay down yard; etc. In all cases the laborious and error prone data gathering is replaced with automated data collection methods reducing cost, increasing accuracy, and increasing efficiency.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 15/457,592, filed Mar. 13, 2017 which is a continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 14/807,660, filed Jul. 23, 2015, now U.S.Pat. No. 9,592,964, issued on Mar. 14, 2017, all of which areincorporated herein by this reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Technical Field

This invention relates generally to the field of automated datacollection. More specifically, this innovation relates to determiningand controlling a location and status of an asset, directly orindirectly.

Description of the Related Art

Position-tracking systems seek to identify the location of mobileobjects in real-time and are used in a wide variety of applications,including transportation, logistics management, healthcare, security,etc. Position-tracking systems that can provide continuous locationinformation are desirable for applications that require non-interruptedvisibility of the mobile object through a journey.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,321,305 discusses a system and method for determiningthe location of an object. The system includes an object locationtracker and a corresponding computer system. The object location trackeris configured for attachment to a mobile vehicle and includes an objectidentification reading device and a position-tracking device. The objectidentification reading device senses object identification indicia onthe object, such as radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, barcodes, quick response (QR) codes, etc. as the mobile vehicle movesaround an environment in which the object is situated. Theposition-tracking device computes the location of the location trackeras the mobile vehicle moves throughout environment. The computer systemassociates the sensed object identification indicia of the object, asdetermined by the reading device, with a location in the environmentbased on the position of the object location tracker in the environment,as determined by the position tracking device, when the reading devicesenses the object identification indicia. The mobile vehicle may includeits own mobility system, such as for example, a forklift or anautonomous robotic device, a drone, or the mobile vehicle may be, forexample, a pushcart that is pushed around the environment. The techniqueuses an active object location tracker on a mobile vehicle, which thenis used to locate a multitude of other assets that carry passiveindicia.

The advent of a multitude of intelligent autonomous mobile vehicles, andthe proliferation of low cost active indicia, sensors, and actuatorsthat can carry status information in addition to identificationinformation have paved the path to observe and control the status of thetracked assets, in addition to their locations. Subsequently, the statusof the assets can be used to guide the further actions of the mobilevehicle carrying the location tracker and the computer system.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Techniques are described with regard to determining and controlling alocation and status of assets directly and/or indirectly. The techniquesmay be used to track and control the respective locations and status ofany number of objects. Applications include but are not limited totracking dry and refrigerated trailers and their status in asupply-chain yard; tracking pallets and boxes and their status in awarehouse; tracking items in a retail environment; tracking finishedgoods and work in progress in and around a manufacturing plant; trackingvehicles in a parking lot; tracking cargo and equipment at an airport;tracking equipment in a lay down yard; etc. The laborious and errorprone data gathering is replaced with automated data collection methodsreducing cost, increasing accuracy, and increasing efficiency.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram that shows high level components of thesystem and method, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram that shows some details of the installedon asset equipment, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram that shows some details of the installedon vehicle equipment, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram that shows some details the interactionbetween an IoA and an IoV, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram that shows some details concerning thecentral control entity and a plurality of facilities, according to anembodiment;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing segments of a mobile vehicletrajectory where the installed on vehicle equipment is in-range withinstalled on asset equipment;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing how in-range segments of a mobilevehicle trajectory can be used to determine actual asset location; and

FIG. 8 is a block schematic diagram of a system in the exemplary form ofa computer system according to an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The innovation can be understood in the context of the figures which usethe following terminology and numbering scheme across the figures todescribe an embodiment consisting of multiple Components (hence thenotation C). Components of the proposed scheme carry the same id acrossthe figures.

-   C 1. Facility-   C 2. Asset    -   C 2.1. Installed On Asset Equipment (IoE)        -   C 2.1.1. Equipment details described below-   C 3. Vehicle    -   C 3.1. Installed On Vehicle Equipment (IoV)        -   C 3.1.1. Equipment details described below-   C 4. Communication Medium-   C 5. Central Control-   C 6. Vehicle Trajectory-   C 7. Interaction between IoE and IoV-   C 8. Direct or indirect (via communication medium) interaction    between IoV equipment and Central Control-   C 9. Other IT Systems-   C 10. Central Control Human Interface-   C 11. Other IT Systems Human Interface-   C 12. Human Operators

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram that shows high level components of anembodiment: in a facility (C 1) one or more mobile vehicles (C 3)equipped with installed on vehicle (“IoV”) equipment (C 3.1) move aroundalong various trajectories (C 6) to track the location and status ofvarious assets (C 2) equipped with installed on asset (“IoA”) equipment(C 2.1), where IoV communicates with the central control (C 5) eitherdirectly via (C 8.X with direct Internet access) or indirectly via (C8.1 a local network) through communication medium (C 4 in the facility)and then (C 8.2 a direct Internet connection).

Facility (C 1), in FIG. 1, can be any one of but not limited to adistribution center, manufacturing plant, warehouse, retail store, laydown yard, construction site, farm, or airport.

These facilities contain assets (C 2) whose location need to be trackedsuch as but not limited to trailers, pallets, equipment, and cargo.Additional information about their status can be collected, suchinformation including but not limited to temperature of a refrigerationunit, fuel/power level of any powered device, maintenance needs of anyequipment, condition of any product, etc. Such assets may or may nothave the ability to communicate this status. In the case that an assetcan communicate its status, such communication may have limited range ormay require tethering to the asset.

Such facilities contain mobile vehicles (C 3) that can move about thefacility a) as part of the regular operation; b) with the specificintent of moving the assets; or c) with the specific intent of gatheringlocation and status information. These vehicles can be any one of butnot limited to a yard truck, a forklift, a push cart, a drone, atractor, a boat, or even a person on foot.

A central control system (C 5) is an IT system that

-   -   collects information coming from the facility;    -   implements business rules;    -   presents the information to human operators (C 12);    -   interacts with other it systems (C 9); and    -   based on input from human operators, other IT systems, and its        implemented business rules sends back commands to the assets in        the facility.

For assets in the facility to be able to communicate with centralcontrol the technique needs a communication mechanism. The communicationmechanism provides coverage, such that assets are either wired to thechannel or are wirelessly in-range of communication.

Here one can categorize wireless communication channel range into threelevels. “Broad-range” communication, such as that implemented bycellular carriers or satellite providers, essentially allows one toconnect to Internet anywhere inside or outside the facility (assumingcoverage). Direct connectivity to Internet allows connectivity tocentral control. The IoV equipment may use such communication (C 8.X) tocommunicate with central control.

Broad range communication typically carries a service fee to thirdparties and requires significant power consumption (e.g. cell phonebatteries are drained within hours if connected to Internet via cellularnetworks) as the communication range is to an antenna miles away. TheIoV equipment may leverage the vehicle battery as power supply, however,for passive assets the IoA cannot rely on a battery for extended periodsof time.

“Facility-range” communication can be implemented by installing a systemsuch as WiMax or multiple WiFi access points. In this case the coverageis available in almost all of the facility, and one can leverage suchwireless coverage (C 8.1) to connect to the communication medium of thefacility which may then use for example a wired DSL a Cable connection(C 8.2) to connect to the Internet.

This scheme can reduce the third party costs as cellular or satelliteconnectivity is more expensive than a DSL or Cable connection.Conversely one has to maintain its own WiMax or WiFi system. However,even in this system power consumption can be an issue. It is commonlyknown that most WiFi connected devices deplete their power within hours.One still has to transmit a signal that has to travel 10-100 meters. TheIoV equipment may use this scheme to connect to central control, as thebattery in the vehicle can power the equipment.

“Local-range” communication is meant for immediate vicinity of up toabout 10 meters. Here as the transmission range is reduced the powerconsumption for communication is reduced as well. While suchcommunication is ideal for devices that do not have their own powersource or ample battery power, it can provide a challenge in providingcoverage for all devices in the facility. This challenge can be overcomein three ways:

-   -   1. Plastering or covering a facility with communication        equipment (i.e. placing communication equipment within a        facility), e.g. every 10 meters to create full coverage.    -   2. Implementing a complex mesh network so that communication to        (C 4) can be achieved via other IoA equipment.    -   3. Moving to the vicinity of the IoA equipment with a vehicle (C        3) that is moving about in the facility.

An important goal is to communicate with a central control system (C 5)for proper operation of the facility with exact knowledge of thelocation and status of the assets in the facility. It is assumed that inthe facility there is a communication medium (C 4) which can act as agateway between facility (C 1) and its contents, e.g. assets and mobilevehicles, on one end and central control (C 5) on the other end. Suchcommunication is assumed to provide coverage in the facility (facilityrange as defined above). The IoV equipment can leverage the facilityrange coverage (C 8.1) via (C 4) and (C 8.2) to central control, or itcan use broad coverage (C 8.X) to connect to Internet directly.

Central control (C 5) is responsible for collecting the relevant data;analyzing and processing the collected data; interacting with otherinformation technology (“IT”) systems (FIG. 5, C 9); interacting withhuman operators (FIG. 5, C 12); creating actionable instructions; andcommunicating the actionable instructions back to mobile vehicle (C 3)and assets (C 2). Examples of such instructions are provided below.

Both assets (C 2) and mobile vehicle (C 3) have specialized equipmentinstalled on them, installed on asset equipment (“IoA” C 2.1) andinstalled on vehicle equipment (“IoV” C 3.1), respectively.

An embodiment of IoA (C 2.1) is depicted in greater detail in FIG. 2 andis comprised of any of or any combination of:

-   -   C 2.1.1 An asset indicium or indicia such as a barcode, a quick        response (QR) code, a radio frequency identification (RFID), and        the like;    -   C 2.1.2 A set of external sensors that can sense and transmit        the status of the asset; and    -   C 2.1.3 A sensor/actuator gateway that can interact with the        native sensors and actuators on the asset and also        bi-directionally communicate with the IoV equipment.

An asset may or may not come pre-equipped with one or more built insensors having interfaces (C 2.0.1) and one or more actuators havinginterfaces (C 2.0.2).

An embodiment of IoV (C 3.1) is depicted in greater detail in FIG. 3 andis comprised of:

-   -   C 3.1.1 A local computer that is in communication with the        entities listed below and that performs various functionality,        described in greater detail below;    -   C 3.1.2 An indicia reader system which may be a camera, an RFID        reader and antenna, or any other system;    -   C 3.1.3 A location detector which is used to determine a precise        location of the vehicle. For example, location detector 3.1.3        may be GPS, differential GPS, GPS augmented with inertial        measurement units, or a camera that recognizes markers in the        environment;    -   C 3.1.4 A set of sensors used to sense the environment such as        object presence, temperature, and the like;    -   C 3.1.5 A set of sensors for receiving information from IoA        equipment;    -   C 3.1.6 A set of actuators for transmitting information to the        IoA equipment; and    -   C 3.1.7 A communication system to communicate with communication        medium (C 4).

It is important to highlight that in different embodiments the IoAequipment may consist of an indicium, it may consist of multipleindicia, and it may have indicia and one or more sensors or actuators.With the approach of this herein described technique, IoA equipment (C2.1) is not required to have broad or facility range communicationcapabilities and may be limited to local (short) range communication,thus keeping the IoA costs down, ensuring long battery life, andminimizing third party communication fees. In one embodiment such shortrange communication can be implemented without any power source (like anRFID or a BarCode id) and has lower cost (currently, the cost of BarCodeis sub-pennies and the cost of RFID is pennies or 10s of cents). Thecommunication approach provided in embodiments herein obviates the needto plaster the facility with communication equipment or to depend oncomplex or costly mesh networks. It implements the locationing,tracking, and control actions with lower cost, lower power devicesleveraging the third scheme.

In one or more embodiments, mobile vehicle sensors use a plurality oftechnologies to gather state information. Examples of such technologyinclude but are not limited to:

-   -   RFID;    -   ultrasound;    -   infrared;    -   radar;    -   laser;    -   accelerometers, gyroscopes, and inertial measurement units,    -   barometers,    -   temperature sensors,    -   speed and altitude detectors, and    -   camera.

An interaction between IoA and IoV can be understood with reference toFIG. 4. Asset indicia reader (C 3.1.2) on the vehicle uses asset indicia(C 2.1.1) on each of the assets to identify the asset, depicted asinteraction referred to as identify (C 7.1).

Local sensors (C 3.1.4) on vehicle (C 3) externally sense the status ofasset (C 2.1), while sensor interface (C 3.1.5) communicates withsensory equipment, external sensor (C 2.1.2) and asset sensor/actuatorgateway (C 2.1.3), on asset (C 2.1). This interaction is depicted assense (C 7.2).

In one or more embodiments, sensed information are obtained either byexternal sensors or through interaction with native sensors. Such sensedinformation can include but are not limited to:

-   -   location;    -   age;    -   fuel level;    -   temperature;    -   humidity;    -   weight;    -   size (width, depth, height);    -   service codes; and    -   error codes.

Actuator interface (C 3.1.6) on vehicle (C 3) transmits control commands(C 7.3) to actuator gateway on the asset sensor/actuator gateway (C2.1.3). This interaction is depicted as control.

It is worth noting that the IoV also acts as an interface (C 10) forhuman operators (C 12) to central control (C 5) to receive instructionsor input data to the system.

As stated above the IoA can use direct (broad range) or indirect(facility range) communication to interact with central control. In oneembodiment, where such interaction does not have to be real-time suchinteraction can be implemented via local range communication whereconnection to (C 4) is available in select and limited spots in thefacility. As the mobile vehicle traverses trajectories (C 6) suchcommunication becomes possible on limited segments. In this embodiment,the mobile vehicle interacts with (C 5) while in-range, it transmitscollected information and receives future commands; otherwise it is indata-gathering and command transmitting mode.

As stated above, IoA equipment (C 2.1) does not have facilitycommunication range. One indicia reader in the Facility may not have theability to read all indicia of IoA equipment. Read ranges of 1-10 oreven 100 meter make it infeasible to plaster the facility with readerssuch that any given indicium is in the range of at least one reader.Therefore understanding the movement of vehicle (C 3) can be importantbecause as a vehicle (C 3) follows a trajectory, such as for exampletrajectory (C 4) depicted in FIG. 1, vehicle (C 3) gets in and out ofcommunication range of such detection and communication. On one handmobile vehicle (C 3) can be a gateway between asset (C 2) and the restof the world via central control (C 5) and other IT systems (C 9)—i.e.the IoA and IoV can use local range communication, the IoV thenleverages facility or broad communication range to further relay thecommunication. On the other hand, the points of the trajectory wheresuch communication is possible or is not possible with asset (C 2) areused to locate the asset (C 2).

This concept is explained further with reference to FIG. 6. Thetriangles C 2.1.x depict the communication range of the IoA sensors. Asa Vehicle moves past, communication is only possible on a limitedsegment (C 6.1). This segment, combined with the known communicationrange pattern of the IoV equipment limits the possible locations of saidsensor and hence asset to a shape (depicted as ellipse E1) in thefacility. The intersections of such ellipses then limit the possiblelocation of an Asset.

Each mobile vehicle (C 3) processes and transmits its collected data tocentral control (C 5) directly (C 8.x) or indirectly through (C 8.1) viacommunication medium through (C 8.2) to (C 4). Central control (C 5)then processes such information and transmits back instructions to themobile vehicles (C 3). Such bi-directional communication interactionsare depicted in FIG. 1.

Central control (C 5) collates information coming from the variousmobile vehicles (C 3) and creates a current image of the facility usingthe collated information. For example as a vehicle moves along atrajectory, as in FIG. 7, it collects information from in-range sensors10 times a second. Since the IoV equipment includes GPS, the IoVComputer (C 3.1.1) can connect each GPS point on its trajectory with aset of in-range interactions. It has the ability to convert thisinformation to segments of trajectory a given sensor was in-range. Ittransmits this data stream to Central Control for further processing.Central Control has the ability to post-process either the raw orpre-processed data (raw data including time stamps along with GPScoordinates and in-range sensor data, whereas in one embodiment C 3.1.1can map these to segments of the trajectory where a given sensor is inrage). Central Control also has the ability to create shapes such as E1for each segment coming from multiple vehicles. In FIG. 7, two suchtrajectories and two such possible shapes that correspond to in-rangetrajectory segments are depicted. One familiar with the art willrecognize that in actuality the shapes are much more restrictive asantennas on IoA and IoV are typically directional and have very specificshapes of communication range. The intersection of these shapes thenindicates a potential set of locations for the asset. If assets areparked in specific parking spots, this information can be combined withthe layout information. In FIG. 7 both P3 and P4 are possible assetlocations given the two trajectories; a third trajectory or the presenceof other assets may be able to further increase location accuracy.Central control (C 5) collates such points from the various vehicles andcreates a time evolved set of points for which each asset is visible.This time-evolved set of points for each asset in turn allows centralcontrol (C 5) to determine most likely locations of that asset.

Points of Discussion

Assets (C 2) with installed on asset equipment (C 2.1) are an elegantstructure and provide elegant functionality, which yield low cost and donot require broad or facility range communication capability. As amobile vehicle (C 3) with its installed on vehicle equipment (C 3.1)moves along a trajectory (C 6), such vehicle (C 3) interacts with aplurality of assets (C 2) as each asset (C 2) comes into the proximityof (C 3) in its local range communication area. The information gatheredby the mobile vehicle is further transmitted to central control (C 5)for consumption.

Example asset location tracking techniques by leveraging communicationrange with assets can be found in the following co-assigned patents:U.S. Pat. No. 7,245,215 “Position-Tracking Device for Position TrackingSystem”; U.S. Pat. No. 7,236,091 “Position-Tracking System”; and U.S.Pat. No. 7,321,305, “Systems and Methods for Determining a Location ofan Object,” each of which is incorporated herein by reference.

Such asset location tracking techniques can be augmented and enhancedwith unique sensing and control capabilities of the assets by the mobilevehicle, as described herein.

As discussed above the gateway created by the mobile vehicle between aplurality of assets having local communication range and the centralcontrol system (C 5) can be effected by other known means. For example,many local range communication devices can communicate among themselvesand ultimately communicate indirectly in facility-range (i.e. within thereach of the network) and ultimately connect to the communication medium(C 4). However such devices provided for example by Linear Technology(Headquarters, Milpitas, Calif.) or ABB (Wickliffe Ohio) add cost ofcomplexity to assets. Examples of these solutions can be found on theInternet. Examples include Wireless Sensor Networks—Dust Networks on theLinear Technology website or Wireless networks on the ABB website.

In an embodiment, IoA (C 2.1) is passive and does not depend on anylocal energy source. An example of this is passive RFID Tags, whichcurrently are also referred to as C1G2 RFID Tags. For example, see“Specification for RFID Interface” by EPCglobal Inc. (GS1,Lawrenceville, N. J.). In these solutions the sensors, i.e. the tagimplementing the indicium do not have a power source, A reader andantenna originate a waveform, which is absorbed by the antennae on thetag, which wakes up the tag, uses the energy in the wave to respond backand transmit its content, its indicium in this case.

It is worth noting that many a Sensor/Actuator Interface (C 2.0.1 or C2.0.2) can serve as an asset indicium or an asset sensor/actuatorgateway (C 2.1.3) can be configured to act as an asset indicium.

Active devices with long range communication capabilities on the assetcan also be used as an alternative for direct communication between IoAequipment (C 2.1) and central control (C 5). However, in this case,power consumption requirements and device cost are higher thanimplementing the present innovation, and such communication relies onbroad communication range as defined above

A facility (C 1) can contain a plethora of devices similar to that ofIoV equipment (C 3.1), referred to herein as Installed on FacilityEquipment (IoF) such that any asset (C 2) and IoA equipment (C 2.1) canbe guaranteed to be within the communication range of an IoF. However,in this case, the equipment cost, equipment installation cost, andequipment maintenance cost is significantly higher than implementing thepresent innovation.

An Exemplary Embodiment

An exemplary embodiment of the innovation is described hereinbelow. Itshould be appreciated that particular details may be for illustrationpurposes and, thus, are not meant to be limiting.

In a general aspect, the innovation includes a technique (“system”) fordetermining a location and status of a multitude of assets andcontrolling their status by leveraging a mobile vehicle. An importantaspect of this innovation is that the assets and installed on assetequipment are kept simple and low in cost, without requiring the assetsand the installed on asset equipment to have the capability ofcommunication at long range. The mobile vehicle as it moves along atrajectory with its installed on vehicle equipment then interacts withone or more assets as it comes into their proximity. The informationgathered by the mobile vehicle then is further transmitted to a centralcontrol for consumption.

As depicted in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 it is assumed that installed on assetequipment (C 2.1) can be comprised of any of or any combination of:

-   -   (C 2.1.1) passive identification indicia (e.g. RFID, Bar Code,        QR Code, etc.); and/or    -   (C 2.1.2) additional external sensors that can sense and        transmit status of the assets; and/or    -   (C 2.1.3) a sensor actuator gateway that can interact with        native equipment on the asset, sense and transmit their        information (from C 2.0.1), and in turn can receive and        propagate actuation commands back to the native equipment (to C        2.0.2).

The mobile vehicle, e.g. a push cart, an autonomous/ground-piloteddrone, a plane, a yard truck, a truck, a go-cart, a car, a Segway, etc.,contains installed on vehicle Equipment, comprising:

-   -   (C 3.1.1) a computer system—to control, guide, and execute        actions;    -   (C 3.1.2) an indicia detector—to identify assets within        local-range communication range as defined above;    -   (C 3.1.3) a position tracking device—to determine its own        location;    -   (C 3.1.4) a sensor assembly—to detect additional asset status        information. The sensor assembly may include a camera to read        the sensor, e.g. a camera with an optical recognition algorithm        can be used to identify an asset that has a bar-code or QR-code,        or alternatively, optical recognition can be used the data on a        digital sensor screen;    -   (C 3.1.5) a receiver for sensor output—to obtain status        information of tracked assets through it sensors;    -   (C 3.1.6) an actuator controller—to instruct the tracked asset        actuators to carry out commands; and    -   (C 3.1.7) a communication system—to communicate with central        control systems.

A central control system (FIG. 1 C 5) then receives, collates, andanalyzes the information, and determines the future actions. Such futureactions can be based on human or third party control systems.

In one embodiment, exemplary such actions may include:

-   -   In one embodiment, as one or more IoA refrigerated trailer fuel        sensors indicates that the fuel level is low, a human operator        may choose to dispatch a fuel truck; in another embodiment such        action can be automated, and a fuel truck may receive automated        refueling requests; in yet another embodiment, the system may        calculate the anticipated residual time for the load in the        trailer and base the dispatching on this information.    -   In one embodiment the facility may be partitioned into separate        areas, where each area is the designated location of a        particular type of asset. In one embodiment, as the central        control determines that a particular asset is not in the right        area, it can raise an alert, for a human operator to take        action. In one embodiment, such action may be corrective, i.e.        the human operator may request a move on the asset, in another        embodiment, the human operator may seek the root cause of the        displacement. Examples of such assets are luggage at an airport        where it does not belong, a trailer in a facility where it        should not be, books in a library on the wrong shelf.

In a typical operation, the mobile vehicle follows a trajectory (FIG. 1C 6) across the space a facility occupies. During this travel, the onboard computer (C 3.1.1) collects location information from the positiontracking system (C 3.1.3), preferably at the highest possible andnecessary frequency (e.g., typically ten times per second).

The need to sample at high frequency stems from the speed of thevehicle. If it is moving at 10 m/sec (22.37 miles per hour), if thesampling frequency is once a second, the assets that were in-rangeduring that second may have been detected from anywhere on that 10 metersegment, if the sampling frequency is 10 times a second, the assets thatwere in range during that tenth of a second will have been detected froma one meter segment. Ultimately the frequency determines the accuracy ofthe in-range segment of the trajectory explained above (FIG. 7, 6.1.1),which in turn determines the locationing accuracy of the locationdetection algorithm since the in-range segment length determines thesize of the shape (FIG. 7 E1.1 or E1.2) of the possible locations of theasset.

Conversely too high a sampling frequency creates too much congestion inthe communication channel and incurs unnecessary communication cost. Ifin each read one is reading 100 RFID tags, with a 128 bit id, along withthe GPS data (about 100 bytes per signal), and the overhead (about 50%),each transmitted information can be (100*128/8+100)*1.5 about 2.5 Kbytesper transmission. If one were to transmit ten times a second, 24 hours aday, 30 days a month one transmits about 66 Giga Bytes of data permonth. While in practice one does not transmit every hour of every day,the calculation above illustrates why one should sample as much asnecessary, not to incur unwarranted communication costs. Presently, atypical cellular broadband package costs approximately $50 per 10GigaBytes per month.

The same concept applies to the sensory data collected via (C 3.1.1,3.1.4, 3.1.5). It should be appreciated that sensory data can be sampledat much lower frequency, as e.g. the temperature of a refrigeration unitdoes not change significantly within seconds.

The local computer (C 3.1.1) pre-processes such data (e.g. it can havethe built in intelligence of what data has incremental value, or issufficiently different across each sample) and transmits such collectedlocation information and data from the indicia/sensor readers (using C3.1.7 indirectly via 8.1 to C 4 via 8.2 or directly via 8.x) to centralcontrol (C 5). In one embodiment 8.1 may be implemented by WiFi, while8.2 may be a DSL or cable service that provides wired connectivity toInternet and hence central control. In another embodiment, 8.x canleverage cellular or satellite communication that provides direct accessto Internet and hence to central control. The same communication mediumis used to interact with central control. As an example in oneembodiment, a human operator may create a move request of a trailer fromone location in the yard (as determined per the locationing algorithms)to a dock door for the trailer to be emptied. In the same example, inanother embodiment, a control algorithm that has a programmed flow oftrailer handling (e.g. the flow being a loaded trailer with said productneeds to be emptied at dock doors 3-7; the control algorithm then usingknowledge of which doors are free and determining where to move thetrailer) may create the move.

The central control system in turn collates the information coming infrom multiple vehicles, along with any combination of data sources suchas but not limited to a) human data input, b) other sensors, and c)status prediction models. It cleanses the data leveraging theredundancies in the information; establishes a best effort ground truthconclusion; and makes such conclusion available to other human operatorsor other automated control systems. An example of such cleansing is asfollows. As a human operator moves a trailer in a distribution centeryard, it may tell the central control that it has placed the trailer atparking spot 12. Subsequently, as a yard truck passes by the area, thealgorithm used to locate assets may place the trailer at parking spot15. At this point the central control may present the information as iswith both parking spots as possible locations of the trailer forusers/other IT systems to determine the next steps. In anotherembodiment, it can use the past accuracy track record for the humanoperator to weigh the operator's input more or less heavily compared tothe automated input. However, as multiple yard trucks pass by the samearea and the locationing algorithm repeatedly places the trailer atparking spot 15, the central control may judge that the trailer isindeed at parking spot 15. Henceforth, decisions of what to do next arebased on the deduced fact that the trailer is at parking spot 15. It maywell be that the trailer is not supposed to be parked in that area, e.g.that area is limited to trailers of a specific carrier, and this trailerdoes not belong to that carrier, at which point an automatic algorithmcan trigger a move request, to move and correct the location of theparked trailer. Similar examples apply to pallets that are placed at thewrong location in a warehouse, items that are misplaced in a retailstore, cars that are parked at the wrong location, books placed at thewrong location at the library etc. The above example illustrates howunreliable and imprecise yet redundant data can be used to determine aground truth reliably which then can guide future actions.

The mobile vehicle may follow a trajectory (FIG. 1 C 4) independent ofits interaction with IoA equipment. The trajectory can be a randomtrajectory or it can be a trajectory devised for a specific purpose suchas a security check round. The trajectory can be specifically devised toensure a communication/interaction need for example such as identifiedby central control or such as a preset trajectory to cover a specificarea. The trajectory may vary as a function of real-time information,such as but not limited to a) status information collected from IoA orb) presence/absence of other objects in the path of the trajectory, e.g.humans on the road, cranes in the flight path of a drone etc.

Examples of Facility, Asset, and Mobile Vehicle Combinations

In one or more embodiments, the innovation operates in one or morefacilities with one or more mobile vehicles, and tracks one or moreassets. Illustrative combinations are described as follows. Suchcombinations are for illustrative purposes and are not meant to belimiting.

-   -   A distribution center or manufacturing plant yard, where the        mobile vehicle is a yard truck, a go-cart, or a drone and the        tracked assets are trailers. As an example U.S. Pat. No.        7,321,305 can be used to identify and locate the trailers. The        status of the trailers (empty/loaded, temperature, fuel level,        additional location precision, etc.) is then tracked and        controlled as per innovative embodiments herein.    -   A warehouse or manufacturing plant, where the mobile vehicle is        a fork lift, a go cart, or a drone and the tracked assets are        pallets, boxes, or other high value equipment in the facility.        As an example U.S. Pat. No. 7,321,305 can be used to identify        and locate the assets. The status of the assets (intact/damaged,        temperature, fuel level, battery level, service period,        additional location precision, etc.) is then tracked and        controlled as per the innovative embodiments herein.    -   A retail store, where the mobile vehicle is a push-cart, a        drone, an employee on a Segway (Segway Inc., Bedford, N.H.) and        the tracked assets are the items in the retail store. In this        case tracked assets may be located in 3D. As an example U.S.        Pat. No. 7,321,305 can be used to identify and locate the        trailers. The status of the assets (quantity, replenishment        needs, expiry dates, intact/damaged, temperature, service        period, additional location precision, etc.) is then tracked and        controlled as per innovative embodiments herein.    -   A vehicle plant (either inside the plant, on or off the assembly        line, or outside the plant in the parking lot) where the mobile        vehicle is a car or truck (can be one of the vehicles        manufactured at the plant), a forklift, a yard truck, any cargo        carrying vehicle, or a drone and the tracked assets are the        manufactured vehicles and other high value tools in and around        the plant. As an example U.S. Pat. No. 7,321,305 can be used to        identify and locate the trailers. The status of the manufactured        assets (completed/in-progress, temperature, fuel level, battery        level, service period, additional location precision, etc.) is        then tracked and controlled as per innovative embodiments        herein.    -   A construction site, where the mobile vehicle can be car, a        forklift, a drone and the tracked assets are the construction        equipment. As an example U.S. Pat. No. 7,321,305 can be used to        identify and locate the assets. The status of the assets        (temperature, fuel level, battery level, service period,        additional location precision, etc.) is then tracked and        controlled as per innovative embodiments herein.    -   A shipyard, where the mobile vehicle is a crane or top-pick and        the tracked assets are containers. In this case tracked assets        may be located in 3D. As an example U.S. Pat. No. 7,321,305 can        be used to identify and locate the trailers. The status of the        trailers (empty/loaded, temperature, fuel level, additional        location precision, etc.) is then tracked and controlled as per        innovative embodiments herein.    -   A farm, where the mobile vehicle is a tractor or a drone, and        the tracked assets are the plants. In this case since the plants        are stationary. Embodiments herein collect plant health        information and actuate watering and fertilizing systems.    -   An airport, where the mobile vehicle is a tug used to pull the        planes, a tug used to carry cargo, or any security vehicles and        the tracked assets are luggage or high value equipment. As an        example U.S. Pat. No. 7,321,305 can be used to identify and        locate the cargo and the equipment. The status of the assets        (temperature, fuel level, battery level, service period,        additional location precision, etc.) is then tracked and        controlled as per the innovative embodiments herein.    -   A large warehouse where the mobile vehicle is a forklift, a        person on a Segway, or an indoor drone and the tracked assets        are spare parts scattered throughout the facility. In this case        tracked assets may be located in 3D. As an example U.S. Pat. No.        7,321,305 can be used to identify and locate the vehicles and        tools. The status of the assets (quantity, condition, etc.) is        then tracked and controlled as per innovative embodiments        herein.    -   A farm, where the mobile vehicle is a tractor or a drone and the        tracked assets are live stock or plants. As an example U.S. Pat.        No. 7,321,305 can be used to identify and locate the livestock        (plants are stationary). The status of the assets (health, sick,        humidity, fertilizer level etc.) is then tracked and controlled        as per the novel ideas of this patent.    -   A fish farm, where the mobile vehicle is a boat, U-boat, or        drone and the tracked assets are the fish and fish food as        detected by short range sensors. As the vehicle traverses a        trajectory it collects status information.

Examples of Tracking, Sensing, and Actuating Applications

Application examples of the innovation are listed below. Such examplesare by no means exhaustive and are for illustration purposes only.

Example 1: Turning on Refrigerated Trailers

In a supply chain trailer yard with refrigerated trailers, an externalIT system (C 11) selects a number of refrigerated trailers to carryoutbound loads. Furthermore it provides the planned departure times ofthese loads and determines that the loads should be ready about an hourbefore departure.

This information instructs the central control (C 5) to turn on therefrigeration units on these trailers to lower their temperature asdetermined by the load they have to carry. Assuming the loading actiontakes two hours, and assuming the cooling of the trailer takes twohours, and in this facility typically every part of the yard istraversed by a mobile vehicle (C 3 in this case a yard truck or a Segwaythat personnel, such as security, drives around on a regular basis, or adrone that has a regular flight plan to check location and status ofassets) at least once an hour, transmitting the turn-on command for atrailer seven hours before the departure time would correspond to theoptimal time of transmitting the turn on command. Central command cantransmit this command to the mobile vehicles (C 3) in the facilityeither via (C 8.2) to (C 4) to (C 8.1) or directly via (8.x) to (C 3) ifthey are using a direct broad range communication scheme.

The mobile vehicles (C 3) then as part of their operation, as theytraverse trajectories (C 6) as they come to within the vicinity of anasset (in this case a refrigerated trailer) with their actuatorinterface (C 3.1.6) can local-range communicate with an asset sensoractuator gateway (C 2.1.3) on the asset that interfaces with theactuator interface of the refrigerated trailer (C 2.0.2) to turn on therefrigerated trailer on just in time.

In one or more embodiment, in absence of the ability to turnrefrigeration units on with the herein described scheme of mobilevehicles (C 3) one either has

-   -   to plaster the facility with enough devices like (C 2.1.3) that        have their own network communication like (C 3.1.7) and their        own power source such that any trailer has the ability to be        accessed by central control at all times; or    -   to send a person to the trailer to turn on the unit.

The former represents significant installation or maintenance cost. Thelatter typically results in such action taking place typically once ortwice a day for the trailers that will be loaded that day. Such actionrepresents manual labor costs, is prone to error, and is not energyefficient.

To have the assets ready “in-time” typically means that a person walksthe entire yard and turns on the trailers that are needed in a givenday.

The benefit of such approach in one or more embodiments is multi fold.Energy savings result from just in time activation of the refrigeratedtrailers, labor is saved by eliminating manual labor that would have totravel to the trailer to activate the refrigeration unit withoutincurring significant installation and maintenance costs.

Example 2: Refrigeration Fuel Check

Similar to Example 1, the temperature and fuel level of the reefertrailers can be checked to ensure proper conditioning.

Following the example above while there is a planned departure time foreach trailer not every carrier may show up on time for pick-up.Conversely not every arriving refrigerated trailer may be emptiedimmediately upon arrival.

In one embodiment for departing trailers, central control (C 5) mayreceive from the transportation management system (C 11) planneddeparture times and planned travel times.

As mobile vehicles (C 3) traverse the facility along their trajectories(C 6) and use their interface (C 7) and let their sensor interface (C3.1.5) interrogate the refrigeration unit interface (C 2.1.3) theyaccomplish two tasks:

-   -   They determine which trailers are still in the yard (both asset        indicia (C 2.1.1) and the information from (C 2.1.3) identify        the trailer; and    -   They determine the fuel levels and temperatures.

As this information is transmitted by the mobile vehicle (C 3)leveraging its communication device directly (C 8.X) or indirectly (C8.1 to C 4 to C 8.2) to central control, central control is in aposition to react to such information, as follows.

-   -   A list of trailers that are late to departure may be presented        to human operators on a console (C 12);        -   Human operators may call the delayed carriers;    -   A message can be sent to carriers that are late for pick up;    -   Based on planned travel time for the delivery a computation can        be performed by central computer (C 5) and determine if the        remaining fuel is sufficient for the trip;        -   For trailers that no longer have sufficient refrigeration            fuel, instructions can be created for on-site personnel to            refuel the refrigeration unit. On site personnel that can            retrieve instructions on a console (c 12); and    -   Finally despite proper fuel levels, the temperature of a trailer        may not meet the designated setting, in this case instructions        are created to unload the shipment and reload it to another        trailer, as the refrigeration unit of this trailer is faulty.

The benefit of such approach in one or more embodiments is multi fold.Cargo shrink is prevented by maintaining proper temperature levels;labor is saved by eliminating manual labor that would have to travel tothe trailer to check the refrigeration unit status. Shipment delays areminimized.

Example 3: Refrigeration Fuel Check—Alteration of Mobile VehicleTrajectory

Similar to Example 2, the mobile vehicle, e.g. mobile vehicle (C 3), aspart of its otherwise operations checks refrigerated trailer fuel levelsusing its IoV equipment (C 3.1). It can then transmit this informationas described above indirectly (C 8.1 to C 4 to C 8.2) or directly (C8.x) to central control (C 5). Central control may include a model ofrefrigeration units which predicts refrigeration fuel consumption. Acomparison of predicted fuel levels versus actual fuel levels may revealthat fuel consumption has exceeded the predictions. Either because ofmodel limitations or special weather conditions of the day, clearly fuelconsumption can exceed the prediction. A business rule can then sendinstructions to the mobile vehicles to traverse set trajectories thatensure “local-range” vicinity to the IoA equipment in the entirefacility. Autonomous vehicles receive and execute such commands withtheir on board computer (C 3.1.1) whereas human operators leverage (C12) a console (C 11) to retrieve and execute the request to immediatelygather to the fuel level and temperature information.

The benefit of this approach in one or more embodiments is multi fold.Cargo shrink is prevented by maintaining proper temperature levels;labor is saved by eliminating manual labor that would have to travel tothe trailer to check the refrigeration unit status. This is achievedwithout any major communication infrastructure.

Example 4: Inventory Check Inside a Warehouse or Retail Store

Same concepts apply inside a building. Since GPS may not be as readilyavailable a number of other techniques can be used by the positiontracking device on the mobile vehicle, such as optical guidance, fixedasset markers around the building, sensor network on the ceiling, etc.

In the warehouse a number of fork-lifts may be equipped with the IoVequipment and perform cycle counts on the assets (pallets, boxes,unstructured assets) on the shelves while also tracking the otherequipment in the warehouse.

In a retail store the IoV can be placed on a push cart operated bycustomers or one of the employees and perform cycle counts on the assets(pallets, boxes, unstructured assets) on the shelves while also trackingthe other equipment in the store.

In these examples the presence and location of the assets are determinedby focusing on the in-range segments (C 6.1 from FIG. 6) and applyingthe algorithms described above in the context of FIGS. 6 and 7.

In this case location tracking is performed in 3D.

The presence or location information then allow central control (C 5) totake corrective action and send instructions to move misplaced assets tocorrect locations.

One or more embodiments obviate the need of intensive labor to performthese cycle counts or the need to have facility-range communicationcoverage to perform inventory checks.

Example 5: Finished Vehicle Inventory Check

In a vehicle manufacturing plant vehicles that come off an assembly lineare parked in and around the factory. Some of these vehicles are readyto be shipped; others need to be brought back in for rework. Thevehicles are parked close to each other by drivers. In this applicationa dedicated aerial drone or a human driven small mobile vehicle such asa Segway is more appropriate as the mobile vehicle, while RFID tags onthe windshield or bumper of the vehicle are more suitable foridentification. As an example ideas in U.S. Pat. No. 7,321,305 can beused to perform regular inventory checks to locate assets and to makesure they are reworked and shipped on time. A drone can follow setflight plans to locate vehicles at regular parking locations.

If the inventory check results in a discrepancy and a number of vehiclesare not located, the computer system on the mobile vehicle (C 3.1.1) canchoose to engage extended flight paths, to cover overflow and irregularparking spots.

In this example the instructions to the IoV (C 3) by central control (c5) are, in addition to perform an inventory, to compare the inventoryagainst a pre-specified list and take corrective action if there aremissing assets.

One aspect of embodiments described herein is, again, the ability toperform inventory checks and to locate assets without a facility orbroad range communication mechanism on the assets. The benefit of thisis multi fold. A mis-parked vehicle may not be reworked in time. Avehicle shipped a day early is converted to cash a day early. Plus theresult is achieved with less labor cost.

Example 6: Construction Yard Equipment Tracking and Maintenance

In a distribution center or a manufacturing plant assets are primarilytrailers; and assets are primarily moved by yard trucks or tractors. Ina construction yard high value assets can be carried and moved by anyindividual. Furthermore some of these assets may require regularmaintenance. Typically such movement and maintenance has to follow setprotocol of checking in and checking out of assets. Yet humans are notreliable.

An autonomous vehicle such as a ground robot car or an aerial drone (C3) can follow set travel or flight paths (C 6) to cover the constructionarea (C 1). The vehicle as sensor interface (C 3.1.5) can use near fieldcommunication (NFC) to interrogate NFC compliant assets (i.e. IoA C2.01.1 is NFC compliant) and equipment for necessary maintenance. Forexample some heavy machinery may require an oil change after a certainnumber of operational hours. The vehicle can also compare actual assetlocation to presumed asset location based on manual check-in/check-outoperation. In another embodiment such check-in/check-out can beimplemented and monitored by additional sensors, such as stationary RFIDreaders that implement a choke-point for entry and exit. User input (C12) may suggest that particular power drill is in one part of thefacility, while the approach described herein may place it elsewhere.This may result in an alert to a supervisor.

Determination of maintenance needs can be an escalated event that haltsconstruction. For example the misplaced asset may be combustive materialsuch as dynamite. Determination of misplaced assets may trigger anextended inventory check.

In one embodiment the drive/flight trajectory of the mobile vehicle mayhave to accommodate crane movement in the construction area and sequenceits trajectory components to avoid high traffic areas. In differentembodiments such adjustment may be made by

-   -   Central control (C 5) which prescribes the trajectories; and    -   The autonomous vehicle (C 3) on board computer (C 3.1.1)        leveraging onboard sensors (C 3.1.4).

Examples of Central Control Capabilities Example 7: Multiple Vehiclesand Fault Tolerance

Some sensors used on the assets and vehicles may have limits on theiraccuracy. The indicia/asset-id readers may not always performflawlessly. The weather conditions may further impact communication andsensor performance.

In an environment where multiple mobile vehicles are in operation, thedata they gather may be redundant or may not be always in agreement. Insuch cases the central control can analyze such data across multiplesources and determine ground truth from a superset of data.

In an embodiment, not all assets may be seen every time by everyvehicle, but all assets are bound to be seen sometime by some vehicle.

In the context of FIG. 6, a given asset (C 2) may have limitedlocal-range communication (C 2.1.x) depicted as a triangle. In thecontext of FIG. 7, as the mobile vehicle (C 3) passes by on a trajectory(C 6.1) with a theoretical in-range segment of (C 6.1.1) may fail tocommunicate or detect the indicium on the Asset or interact with thesensors due to noise, occlusion, or imprecision in the system. However,the same negative conditions are unlikely to hold every subsequenttrajectory's in-range segment (c 6.2.1 etc.) unless there is a totalfailure on the IoA equipment.

Example 8: Specific Trajectories

As information arrives from the mobile vehicles, the central control candetermine that no information has been obtained from part of thefacility, i.e. the trajectories (C 6) have not covered parts of thefacility (C 1) in sizes that far exceed the local-range communication ofIoA equipment (C 2.1.x as depicted in FIG. 6). Central control (C 5) canthen require a vehicle to follow a set trajectory in that area initiallyfor an inventory and status check. A request can be sent to a humandriver or an autonomous vehicle leveraging communication mechanismsindirectly (C 8.2 C 4 C 8.1) or directly (C 8.x) for the vehicle (C 3)to traverse a said trajectory (C 6) in that area.

Data collected from this and other trajectories (C 6) can becommunicated to other IT systems (C 9). For example a trailer that hasnot left the facility as planned can become a delay notification to thetransportation management system. Alternatively they can be alerts forhuman operators (C 12) for them to call the carrier.

Example 9: IoA Equipment Failure Detection

If there are multiple indicia (C 2.1.1) or asset sensor/actuatorgateways (C 2.1.3) on an asset, if after multiple traversals of anin-range segments (6.x) of vehicles (C 3) no detection or communicationis achieved with one of the indicia or sensor gateways, central control(C 5) can deduce a failure and dispatch a human operator through thehuman operator interface (C 12).

If no detection or communication is achieved with an asset after havingtraversed the parts of the facility, the central control has to concludethat the asset is either no longer in the facility or its IoA hasfailed. If asset entry and exit to the facility is strictly controlled,this suggests an IoA failure. However, if a human operator subsequentlycannot locate the asset in the facility, this suggests a failedcheck-out.

Exemplary Embodiments

In an embodiment, a method for determining and controlling a status ofan asset in a facility using a mobile vehicle, comprises: reading, by anobject identification device on said mobile vehicle, indicia of an assetin range; determining, by a position-tracking device on said mobilevehicle, a location of said mobile vehicle; sensing, by at least onesensor on said mobile vehicle, status of the asset; receiving, by atleast one receiver on said mobile vehicle, a communication from at leastone sensor on said asset; transmitting, by at least one transmitter onsaid mobile vehicle, a communication to at least one actuator on saidasset; communicating, by a communication mechanism on said mobilevehicle, with a central control server; recording, by a computer systemon said mobile vehicle, any of: said location of the mobile vehicleobtained from said position-tracking device; indicia of said asset, readby said object identification device; and said status of said assetobtained from said at least one mobile vehicle sensor; transmitting, bysaid computer system on said mobile vehicle, said recorded informationto said central control server; receiving from said central controlserver, by said computer system on said mobile vehicle, controlinstructions for said asset and control instructions for said mobilevehicle; and transmitting, by said computer system on said mobilevehicle, said control instructions to said at least one actuator on saidasset.

In an embodiment, in the method, the mobile vehicle is any of a car, apush cart, a person, a plane, a drone, and a Segway; wherein the mobilevehicle is propelled by a force comprising any of: an engine, a human,or an animal; and the mobile vehicle is guided by any of: autonomously,local humans, remote humans, and animals.

In an embodiment, in the method, the at least one mobile vehicle sensoruses a plurality of technologies to gather state information, saidtechnology comprising: RFID; ultrasound; infrared; radar; laser;accelerometers, gyroscopes, and inertial measurement units, barometers,temperature sensors, speed and altitude detectors, and camera.

In an embodiment, in the method, the at least one transmitter and saidat least one receiver communicate in a plurality of technologies withsaid at least one asset sensor to gather state information or totransmit actuation control, said technologies comprising: RF; NFCcommunication protocols; IOT communication protocols; Bluetooth; Zigbee;802.11x; and UWB.

In an embodiment, in the method, the sensed information comprise any of:location; age; fuel level; temperature; humidity; weight; size (width,depth, height); service codes; and error codes.

In an embodiment, in the method, the control instructions to said atleast one actuator on said asset comprise any of or any combination of:turn on; turn off; adjust temperature setting; adjust communicationprotocol; adjust communication frequency; and clear error codes.

In an embodiment, in the method, a trajectory of said mobile vehicle isdetermined and altered in real-time due to any of or any combination of:information collected by said mobile vehicle; facility layout; recentarrival or departures or other asset movement; past age of assets in thefacility; weather conditions; facility activity level; central control;and other objects entering a planned trajectory timeline.

In an embodiment, in the method, the position tracking device on saidmobile vehicle uses one or more of the following to determine itslocation, speed, and heading: GPS; known asset locations in thefacility, implemented by markers, from which the device triangulates itslocation; assisted GPS; an optical system or a PX4Flow; an altimeter ora Lidar or similar device; Inertial Measurement Units; J-Bus or CAN-businterface of the vehicle; and ultrasonic sensors.

In an embodiment, in the method, the mobile vehicle communicates withsaid central control server over any of: cellular infrastructure;cellular infrastructure comprising any of: 3G, 4G, 5G, 1×RTT, GPS, GSM,or CDMA; Y-max; 802.11x; mesh networks; Zigbee; and any communicationtechnology.

In an embodiment, in the method, the object identification device usesany of or any combination of the following to detect and identify saidasset and said indicia on said asset: C1G2, G3, UWB, active, passive,semi-active, semi-passive RFID; bar codes; QR codes; actual image andimage recognition; and image insignia and insignia recognition.

In an embodiment, a method for determining and controlling a status ofan asset in a facility, comprises: sensing, by at least one sensor onsaid asset in the facility, a status of said asset; transmitting, bysaid at least one sensor on said asset, said status to a mobile devicein range; interacting, via at least one sensor actuator gateway on saidasset, with said at least one sensor on said asset, at least oneactuator on said asset, and an external system; and receiving, at saidat least one actuator on said asset, at least one control command fromsaid mobile device in range.

In an embodiment, in the method, the at least one sensor on said assetuses a plurality of technologies to sense asset status, saidtechnologies comprising: RFID; ultrasound; infrared; radar; laser;accelerometers, gyroscopes, and inertial measurement units; barometers,temperature sensors, speed and altitude detectors; and built indiagnostics and actuation systems.

In an embodiment, in the method, the sensed information comprise any of:location; age; fuel level; temperature; humidity; weight; size (width,depth, height); service codes; and error codes.

In an embodiment, in the method, the at least one control commandcomprises any of: turn on; turn off; adjust temperature setting; adjustcommunication protocol; adjust communication frequency; and clear errorcodes.

In an embodiment, a method for determining and controlling a status ofan asset in a facility using a central control server, comprises:receiving, at said central control server, communication from aplurality of mobile vehicles; collating and aggregating, at said centralcontrol server, information from said received communication across apredetermined time interval and a predetermined geographical range ofspace; based on said collated and aggregated information, determining bythe central control server, the status of the asset and computing by analgorithm at said central control server used to locate positions ofassets the location of the asset in the facility; based on said collatedand aggregated information, generating, at said central control server,at least one actuator action for said asset; and transmitting, by saidcentral control server, said at least one actuator action intended forsaid asset.

In an embodiment, in the method, the at least one actuator actioncomprises any of: turn on; turn off; adjust temperature setting; adjustcommunication protocol; adjust communication frequency; and clear errorcodes.

In an embodiment, in the method, the central control server furthercomprises: gathering and subsequently collating information gathered byadditional stationary sensors; collating and aggregating informationabout mobile vehicle location, speed, and heading of a particular mobilevehicle of said plurality of mobile vehicles and generating a list ofassets that are in range at said location; reverse engineering saidinformation to determine where in a 3D coordinate point in the facilityand when an asset having equipment is in range; and based on saidinformation computing a most likely location of said asset at a giventime; resolving inconsistent data in said collated information byidentifying, weighing, and applying particular redundancies in thecollated information to increase overall accuracy of said information;comparing said collated information with data entered by human operatorsor predicted by system models, and determining a reliability of datafrom each data source; comparing data between user generated assetmovement information and said computed most likely asset locationinformation and using similar data to increase location accuracy of saidasset; when particular data from said data from each data source isdetermined to be unreliable, replacing said unreliable data with saiddata determined reliable; presenting current status information to humanoperators or other automated control modules; receiving input from saidother automated control models and said human operators; andtransmitting control instructions to said plurality of mobile vehicles,said instructions comprising: actions on the asset actuators; andactions on the mobile vehicle trajectory.

In an embodiment, in the method, the central control server communicateswith said mobile vehicle over any of: cellular infrastructure; cellularinfrastructure comprising any of: 3G, 4G, 5G, 1×RTT, GPS, GSM, or CDMA;Y-max; 802.11x; mesh networks; Zigbee; and any communication technology.

In an embodiment, in the method, generating said at least one actuatoraction further comprises using data from any of or any combination of ahuman source, a third party control system, and a business rule.

An Example Machine Overview

FIG. 8 is a block schematic diagram of a system in the exemplary form ofa computer system 800 within which a set of instructions for causing thesystem to perform any one of the foregoing methodologies may beexecuted. In alternative embodiments, the system may comprise a networkrouter, a network switch, a network bridge, personal digital assistant(PDA), a cellular telephone, a Web appliance or any system capable ofexecuting a sequence of instructions that specify actions to be taken bythat system.

The computer system 800 includes a processor 802, a main memory 804 anda static memory 806, which communicate with each other via a bus 808.The computer system 800 may further include a display unit 810, forexample, a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a cathode ray tube (CRT). Thecomputer system 800 also includes an alphanumeric input device 812, forexample, a keyboard; a cursor control device 814, for example, a mouse;a disk drive unit 816, a signal generation device 818, for example, aspeaker, and a network interface device 828.

The disk drive unit 816 includes a machine-readable medium 824 on whichis stored a set of executable instructions, i.e. software, 826 embodyingany one, or all, of the methodologies described herein below. Thesoftware 826 is also shown to reside, completely or at least partially,within the main memory 804 and/or within the processor 802. The software826 may further be transmitted or received over a network 830 by meansof a network interface device 828.

In contrast to the system 800 discussed above, a different embodimentuses logic circuitry instead of computer-executed instructions toimplement processing entities. Depending upon the particularrequirements of the application in the areas of speed, expense, toolingcosts, and the like, this logic may be implemented by constructing anapplication-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) having thousands of tinyintegrated transistors. Such an ASIC may be implemented with CMOS(complementary metal oxide semiconductor), TTL (transistor-transistorlogic), VLSI (very large systems integration), or another suitableconstruction. Other alternatives include a digital signal processingchip (DSP), discrete circuitry (such as resistors, capacitors, diodes,inductors, and transistors), field programmable gate array (FPGA),programmable logic array (PLA), programmable logic device (PLD), and thelike.

It is to be understood that embodiments may be used as or to supportsoftware programs or software modules executed upon some form ofprocessing core (such as the CPU of a computer) or otherwise implementedor realized upon or within a system or computer readable medium. Amachine-readable medium includes any mechanism for storing ortransmitting information in a form readable by a machine, e.g. acomputer. For example, a machine readable medium includes read-onlymemory (ROM); random access memory (RAM); magnetic disk storage media;optical storage media; flash memory devices; electrical, optical,acoustical or other form of propagated signals, for example, carrierwaves, infrared signals, digital signals, etc.; or any other type ofmedia suitable for storing or transmitting information.

Further, it is to be understood that embodiments may include performingoperations and using storage with cloud computing. For the purposes ofdiscussion herein, cloud computing may mean executing algorithms on anynetwork that is accessible by Internet-enabled or network-enableddevices, servers, or clients and that do not require complex hardwareconfigurations, e.g. requiring cables and complex softwareconfigurations, e.g. requiring a consultant to install. For example,embodiments may provide one or more cloud computing solutions thatenable users, e.g. users on the go, to track and control the respectivelocations and statuses of an object, said tracking and controlling onsuch Internet-enabled or other network-enabled devices, servers, orclients. It further should be appreciated that one or more cloudcomputing embodiments include track and control the respective locationsand statuses of an object using mobile devices, tablets, and the like,as such devices are becoming standard consumer devices.

Although the invention is described herein with reference to thepreferred embodiment, one skilled in the art will readily appreciatethat other applications may be substituted for those set forth hereinwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.Accordingly, the invention should only be limited by the Claims includedbelow.

The invention claimed is:
 1. An asset inventorying method, comprising:moving a mobile vehicle along a trajectory in a facility, the mobilevehicle having at least one sensor; as the mobile vehicle moves alongthe trajectory, using the sensor to collect information relating to oneor more assets in the facility that come into proximity with the mobilevehicle, the collected information defining one or more shapesassociated with each asset that is in proximity to the mobile vehicle;transmitting the information collected by the sensor to a processor; theprocessor creating a current mapping of the identity and location of theone or more assets in the facility using information relating to thetrajectory and the collected information including the defined one ormore shapes; and wherein the processor creates a time-evolved,overlapping set of the defined shapes for each asset sensed by thesensor based on the collected information received from the mobilevehicle, the processor using the time-evolved, overlapping set of thedefined shapes to determine a most-likely location of the correspondingasset in the current mapping.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein thelocation information included in the current mapping of the facilityincludes 3D coordinate point information about the location of the oneor more assets and the mobile vehicle.
 3. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising determining a future action concerning one of the one or moreassets based on the current mapping.
 4. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising determining a future action concerning the mobile vehiclebased on the current mapping.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein thesensor comprises a camera.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein each assethas an indicium associated therewith, and wherein the informationcollected by the sensor includes information relating to the indicium.7. The method of claim 6, wherein the indicium comprises a bar code or aQR code.
 8. The method of claim 6, wherein the indicium comprises aradio frequency identifier.
 9. The method of claim 6, wherein theindicium comprises a passive identifier.
 10. The method of claim 6,wherein the indicium comprises an active identifier.
 11. The method ofclaim 6, wherein the indicium is coupled to an actuator operable throughcommands issued by the processor to perform an action on the asset. 12.The method of claim 1, wherein the trajectory changes as a real-timefunction of the information obtained by the mobile vehicle.
 13. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the processor is located remote from themobile vehicle.
 14. The method of claim 1, wherein the processor islocated on the mobile vehicle.
 15. The method of claim 1, wherein theprocessor uses the time-evolved set of the defined shapes to determine astatus of the corresponding asset.
 16. The method of claim 15, whereinthe determined status comprises dimensions of the corresponding asset.17. The method of claim 15, wherein the determined status comprises acondition of the corresponding asset.
 18. An asset inventorying method,comprising: moving a mobile vehicle along a trajectory in a facility,the mobile vehicle having at least one sensor; as the mobile vehiclemoves along the trajectory, using the sensor to collect informationrelating to one or more assets in the facility that come into proximitywith the mobile vehicle, the collected information defining one or moreshapes associated with each asset that in proximity to the mobilevehicle; transmitting the information collected by the sensor to aprocessor; the processor creating a current mapping of the identity andlocation of the one or more assets in the facility using informationrelating to the trajectory and the collected information including thedefined one or more shapes; and wherein the sensor has a range forsensing information and a sampling frequency at which the sensorperiodically collects instances of information so that as the mobilevehicle moves proximal to a given asset of the one or more assets, thesensor collects multiple, periodic instances of information about thegiven asset while the given asset is within the range of the sensor,each instance defining at least one of the defined shapes, the processorcorrelating the multiple, periodic instances of information with theinformation relating to the trajectory to create the current mapping.19. The method of claim 18, wherein the sensor comprises a camera. 20.The method of claim 18, wherein each asset has an indicium associatedtherewith, and wherein the information collected by the sensor includesinformation relating to the indicium.
 21. The method of claim 20,wherein the indicium comprises a bar code or a QR code.
 22. The methodof claim 20, wherein the indicium comprises a radio frequencyidentifier.
 23. The method of claim 20, wherein the indicium is coupledto an actuator operable through commands issued by the processor toperform an action on the asset.
 24. The method of claim 18, wherein theprocessor creates a time-evolved, overlapping set of the defined shapesfor each asset sensed by the sensor based on the collected informationreceived from mobile vehicle, the processor using the time-evolved setof the defined shapes to determine a status of the corresponding asset.25. The method of claim 24, wherein the determined status comprisesdimensions of the corresponding asset.
 26. The method of claim 24,further comprising performing a cycle count for one or more assets usingthe determined status.
 27. An asset inventorying system, comprising: amobile vehicle capable of moving along a trajectory in a facility; atleast one sensor coupled to the mobile vehicle, the sensor capable ofcollecting information relating to one or more assets that come intoproximity with the mobile vehicle as the mobile vehicle moves along thetrajectory, wherein the collected information defines one or more shapesassociated with each asset in proximity to the mobile vehicle; themobile vehicle having a transmitter capable of transmitting informationcollected by the sensor from the mobile vehicle to a processor; theprocessor being capable of creating a current mapping of the identityand location of the one or more assets in the facility using informationrelating to the trajectory and the collected information including thedefined one or more shapes; and the processor being capable of creatinga time-evolved, overlapping set of the defined shapes for each assetsensed by the sensor based on the collected information received fromthe mobile vehicle, the processor being capable of using thetime-evolved, overlapping set of the defined shapes to determine amost-likely location of the corresponding asset in the current mapping.28. The system of claim 27, wherein the location information included inthe current mapping of the facility includes 3D coordinate pointinformation about the location of the one or more assets and the mobilevehicle.
 29. The system of claim 27, the processor being capable ofdetermining a future action concerning one of the one or more assetsbased on the current mapping.
 30. The system of claim 27, the processorbeing capable of determining a future action concerning the mobilevehicle based on the current mapping.
 31. The system of claim 27,wherein the sensor comprises a camera.
 32. The system of claim 27,wherein each asset has an indicium associated therewith, and wherein theinformation collected by the sensor includes information relating to theindicium.
 33. The system of claim 32, wherein the indicium comprises abar code or a QR code.
 34. The system of claim 32, wherein the indiciumcomprises a radio frequency identifier.
 35. The system of claim 32,wherein the indicium comprises a passive identifier.
 36. The system ofclaim 32, wherein the indicium comprises an active identifier.
 37. Thesystem of claim 32, wherein the indicium is coupled to an actuatoroperable through commands issued by the processor to perform an actionon the asset.
 38. The system of claim 27, wherein the trajectory changesas a real-time function of the information obtained by the mobilevehicle.
 39. The system of claim 27, wherein the processor is locatedremote from the mobile vehicle.
 40. The system of claim 27, wherein theprocessor is located on the mobile vehicle.
 41. The system of claim 27,the processor being capable of creating a time-evolved, overlapping setof the defined shapes for each asset sensed by the sensor based on thecollected information received from mobile vehicle, the processor beingcapable of using the time-evolved set of the defined shapes to determinea status of the corresponding asset.
 42. The system of claim 41, whereinthe determined status comprises dimensions of the corresponding asset.43. The system of claim 41, wherein the determined status comprises acondition of the corresponding asset.
 44. The system of claim 41, theprocessor being capable of performing a cycle count for one or moreassets using the determined status.
 45. An asset inventorying method,comprising: moving a mobile vehicle along a trajectory in a facility,the mobile vehicle having at least one sensor; as the mobile vehiclemoves along the trajectory, using the sensor to collect informationrelating to one or more assets in the facility that come into proximitywith the mobile vehicle, the collected information defining one or moreshapes associated with each asset that in proximity to the mobilevehicle; transmitting the information collected by the sensor to aprocessor; the processor creating a current mapping of the identity andlocation of the one or more assets in the facility using informationrelating to the trajectory and the collected information including thedefined one or more shapes; and wherein the processor creates atime-evolved, overlapping set of the defined shapes for each assetsensed by the sensor based on the collected information received frommobile vehicle, the processor using the time-evolved set of the definedshapes to determine a status of the corresponding asset.
 46. The methodof claim 45, wherein the determined status comprises dimensions of thecorresponding asset.
 47. The method of claim 45, wherein the determinedstatus comprises a condition of the corresponding asset.
 48. The methodof claim 45, further comprising performing a cycle count for one or moreassets using the determined status.
 49. An asset inventorying method,comprising: moving a mobile vehicle along a trajectory in a facility,the mobile vehicle having at least one sensor; as the mobile vehiclemoves along the trajectory, using the sensor to collect informationrelating to one or more assets in the facility that come into proximitywith the mobile vehicle, the collected information defining one or moreshapes associated with each asset that in proximity to the mobilevehicle; transmitting the information collected by the sensor to aprocessor; the processor creating a current mapping of the identity andlocation of the one or more assets in the facility using informationrelating to the trajectory and the collected information including thedefined one or more shapes; wherein each asset has an indiciumassociated therewith, and wherein the information collected by thesensor includes information relating to the indicium; and wherein theindicium is coupled to an actuator operable through commands issued bythe processor to perform an action on the asset.
 50. The method of claim49, wherein the sensor comprises a camera.
 51. The method of claim 49,wherein the indicium comprises a bar code or a QR code.
 52. The methodof claim 49, wherein the indicium comprises a radio frequencyidentifier.
 53. The method of claim 49, wherein the processor creates atime-evolved, overlapping set of the defined shapes for each assetsensed by the sensor based on the collected information received frommobile vehicle, the processor using the time-evolved set of the definedshapes to determine a status of the corresponding asset.
 54. The methodof claim 53, wherein the determined status comprises dimensions of thecorresponding asset.
 55. The method of claim 53, further comprisingperforming a cycle count for one or more assets using the determinedstatus.
 56. An asset inventorying system, comprising: a mobile vehiclecapable of moving along a trajectory in a facility; at least one sensorcoupled to the mobile vehicle, the sensor capable of collectinginformation relating to one or more assets that come into proximity withthe mobile vehicle as the mobile vehicle moves along the trajectory,wherein the collected information defines one or more shapes associatedwith each asset in proximity to the mobile vehicle; the mobile vehiclehaving a transmitter capable of transmitting information collected bythe sensor from the mobile vehicle to a processor, the processor beingcapable of creating a current mapping of the identity and location ofthe one or more assets in the facility using information relating to thetrajectory and the collected information including the defined one ormore shapes; and the sensor having a range for sensing information and asampling frequency at which the sensor is capable of periodicallycollecting instances of information so that when the mobile vehicle ismoved proximal to a given asset of the one or more assets, the sensor iscapable of collecting multiple, periodic instances of information aboutthe given asset while the given asset is within the range of the sensor,wherein each instance defines at least one of the defined shapes, theprocessor being capable of correlating the multiple, periodic instancesof information with the information relating to the trajectory to createthe current mapping.
 57. The system of claim 56, wherein the sensorcomprises a camera.
 58. The system of claim 56, wherein each asset hasan indicium associated therewith, and wherein the information collectedby the sensor includes information relating to the indicium.
 59. Thesystem of claim 58, wherein the indicium comprises a bar code or a QRcode.
 60. The system of claim 58, wherein the indicium comprises a radiofrequency identifier.
 61. The system of claim 58, wherein the indiciumis coupled to an actuator operable through commands issued by theprocessor to perform an action on the asset.
 62. The system of claim 56,wherein the processor is capable of creating a time-evolved, overlappingset of the defined shapes for each asset sensed by the sensor based onthe collected information received from mobile vehicle, the processorbeing capable of using the time-evolved set of the defined shapes todetermine a status of the corresponding asset.
 63. The system of claim62, wherein the determined status comprises dimensions of thecorresponding asset.
 64. The system of claim 62, wherein the processoris capable of performing a cycle count for one or more assets using thedetermined status.
 65. An asset inventorying system, comprising: amobile vehicle capable of moving along a trajectory in a facility; atleast one sensor coupled to the mobile vehicle, the sensor capable ofcollecting information relating to one or more assets that come intoproximity with the mobile vehicle as the mobile vehicle moves along thetrajectory, wherein the collected information defines one or more shapesassociated with each asset in proximity to the mobile vehicle; themobile vehicle having a transmitter capable of transmitting informationcollected by the sensor from the mobile vehicle to a processor, theprocessor being capable of creating a current mapping of the identityand location of the one or more assets in the facility using informationrelating to the trajectory and the collected information including thedefined one or more shapes; and the processor being capable of creatinga time-evolved, overlapping set of the defined shapes for each assetsensed by the sensor based on the collected information received fromthe mobile vehicle, the processor being capable of using thetime-evolved set of the defined shapes to determine a status of thecorresponding asset.
 66. The system of claim 65, wherein the sensorcomprises a camera.
 67. The system of claim 65 wherein each asset has anindicium associated therewith, and wherein the information collected bythe sensor includes information relating to the indicium.
 68. The systemof claim 67, wherein the indicium comprises a bar code or a QR code. 69.The system of claim 67, wherein the indicium comprises a radio frequencyidentifier.
 70. The system of claim 67, wherein the indicium is coupledto an actuator operable through commands issued by the processor toperform an action on the asset.
 71. The system of claim 65, wherein thedetermined status comprises dimensions of the corresponding asset. 72.The system of claim 65, wherein the processor is capable of performing acycle count for one or more assets using the determined status.
 73. Anasset inventorying system, comprising: a mobile vehicle capable ofmoving along a trajectory in a facility; at least one sensor coupled tothe mobile vehicle, the sensor capable of collecting informationrelating to one or more assets that come into proximity with the mobilevehicle as the mobile vehicle moves along the trajectory, wherein thecollected information defines one or more shapes associated with eachasset in proximity to the mobile vehicle; the mobile vehicle having atransmitter capable of transmitting information collected by the sensorfrom the mobile vehicle to a processor, the processor being capable ofcreating a current mapping of the identity and location of the one ormore assets in the facility using information relating to the trajectoryand the collected information including the defined one or more shapes;wherein each asset has an indicium associated therewith, and wherein theinformation collected by the sensor includes information relating to theindicium; and wherein the indicium is coupled to an actuator operablethrough commands issued by the processor to perform an action on theasset.
 74. The system of claim 73, wherein the sensor comprises acamera.
 75. The system of claim 73, wherein the indicium comprises aradio frequency identifier.
 76. The system of claim 73, wherein theprocessor is capable of creating a time-evolved, overlapping set of thedefined shapes for each asset sensed by the sensor based on thecollected information received from mobile vehicle, the processor beingcapable of using the time-evolved set of the defined shapes to determinea status of the corresponding asset.
 77. The system of claim 76, whereinthe determined status comprises dimensions of the corresponding asset.78. The system of claim 76, wherein the processor is capable ofperforming a cycle count for one or more assets using the determinedstatus.